Chapter 96
this is a fictional story by realTensai
Alvis opened his eyes, and the first thing that came into his view was beautiful blond hair. They weren’t as well kept as they used to be, which made them look wavy, yet this had its own charm. Upon noticing that Alvis awoke, the girl turned around and smiled softly.
“Lia,” Alvis said, shaking his head and stretching a bit. “How long have I been asleep?”
“A few hours. It’s afternoon now.”
I see that explains my growling stomach.
However, one thought immediately popped into his mind.
“What about Chao? You have to heal him. His injuries—”
“Already done,” Lia said with a reassuring smile. “He woke up before you, so I treated him whilst you still were asleep. But the regeneration potions did most of the work. He is currently with his class, so you don’t have to worry about him.”
Alvis exhaled; the most important thing haven been taken care of.
“Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“Chao told us how hard you worked to complete the quest. He told us that you deserved a break.”
Us?
Alvis sat up straight and looked around the room, only for him to notice Dane, Sekki, and Maya sitting on chairs next to the table.
“Yo,” he said, though they just nodded in response.
Even though they met his gaze, their eyes seemed grim and as he looked at Lia again, he noticed that her weak smile had just been a facade not to worry him.
“How did your quests go? What happened whilst I was asleep?”
Lia bit her tongue as she averted her gaze, yet she knew she had to answer. She took a deep breath in and out before her emerald eyes were set on Alvis again.
“Let’s start with the quest. There were five quests today and all of them already have been completed,” she started, her voice steady. “You and Chao, Dane and Sekki, and the three first years, Lyon, Bero, and Dogan, completed a quest. This means the student council team completed three out of the five quests.”
“Huh, wait, this is amazing. Good job, Dane, Sekki.”
“It’s nothing special,” Dane answered matter-of-factly.
“Ignore him. He is just acting cool,” Sekki said, earning him a glare by Dane. “Without him, I most certainly wouldn’t be alive right now. However,” he said, this time chuckling a bit, “this same also applies to him. Strength alone isn’t enough to clear these quests. You also need clever tactics and have to outwit others. That’s how we, as a pair, could overwhelm everyone else and even win against Hercules this time.”
“Haha, should’ve seen his face when I got my revenge.”
Alvis remembered how Hercules, one of the fourth year leaders the same caliber as William and Jasmine, had been the one to snatch the very first quest before Dane. The fact that they dealt with him this time just showed how strong of a team these two were.
It was the right decision to team them up.
“We each got 500 coins, two stamina potions, and one legendary item as a reward,” Sekki continued. “The item is some kind of glove that increases your punches with every hit, or something like that. It isn’t useful for me, but I’m sure Dane will have a lot of fun with it. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a team member increase as a reward.”
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“That’s still good. Not every quest will have it as a reward. But what about the three first years? You said they also completed a quest.”
Alvis couldn’t see them around, so he was wondering why. If they completed a quest, they should celebrate it. However, everyone’s looks darkened, and they all stared at the ground, not wanting to answer.
“Hey, what’s wrong? Did something happen to them?”
Alvis’ heart raced as their reactions didn’t make sense. Shouldn’t they be happy about them completing a quest?
“They took on a difficult quest,” Lia started. “It had a team member increase as a reward, so they didn’t want to back down. Many people fought for this quest even though it was a difficult one, yet still, the three first years never gave up and in the end even completed the quest.”
Lia paused, trying to find the right words.
“They got severely injured and are currently being taken care of by the school’s healers.”
“What?!”
Alvis clenched his fist, cold sweat spreading from his forehead.
This is my fault.
The three first years, no, his students, pushed themselves far beyond their limits just so they could be of use. Just so he could be proud of them. They probably still thought they were responsible for the first kill, as they couldn’t stop the commotion that eventually led to the hatred being unable to be stopped anymore. That was why they fought even harder, just so they could make up for it.
“Don’t be sad now. It was their own decision,” Maya said, her voice cold and harsh. “Instead of grieving and blaming yourself, you should be proud of your students and visit them with your head held high. This is what they want.”
Alvis’ heart still raced, yet Maya’s words had reached it. He exhaled, freeing himself from the guilt.
“You are right. They did an amazing job,” he said. I will visit them later. With that in mind, he continued. “Who completed the other quests? How come you and Lia didn’t complete one?”
“There is only one reason,” Maya said, her eyes vivid as if reliving the moment. “Jasmine completed the other quest. However, the quest Lia and I wanted to complete, the quest that had a team member increase of five as a reward, the quest that most students fought over, got completed by no other than Gilsymbato!”
An icy shiver ran down Alvis’ spine just at hearing that name. Every cell of his was on alert as he realized that the time had come.
The single most dangerous person trapped in this game started moving.
“This fucker doesn’t even have a team, yet he purposefully targeted the quest that had the team member increase of five as a reward. He just did it to provoke everyone else!” Dane said, slamming his fist against the wall, making small cracks appear in it.
“I can’t even grasp my mind around what I’ve seen there,” Maya said, her eyes trembling as she remembered the quest. “It was absolute dominance. He cleared the quest faster than everyone else and whoever came in his way… he killed them.”
Alvis’ breathing became shallow as the worst-case scenario materialized before his eyes. He saw how Lia’s face went pale, her eyes turning cold.
“We had to shift our priorities from clearing the quest to treating the injured and stopping others from even trying to compete against Gilsymbato. Still, we couldn’t save everyone.”
The room went silent and Alvis tried his best digesting what he just heard.
More students died.
Even though the first kill only happened today, Alvis couldn’t even count how much had followed. Going by the difficulty of the quest he had completed and also by the fight with other students over the quest, he could imagine even more students died. He gritted his teeth, the fact that the Devil Cult had reached its goal making his blood boil.
“Is there something else I still need to know?”
“Yes,” Lia answered. “The perhaps worst thing that could’ve happened.”
Alvis couldn’t even gulp as he awaited her next words.
“While everyone was focussed on the quest and a bloody war erupted, one party chose another target,” Lia stopped and clenched her fist. “Charles and the humans exploited the chaos and looted the school’s remaining food reserves.”
“What?”
Alvis didn’t even know how to react, as this was the last thing he would’ve expected. Until now, there had been food for everyone in the cafeteria. It wasn’t much and rationed, yet still enough to survive.
“Charles’ move changed everything. All the students and even the teachers who had been surviving solely by the school’s food supply are now dependent on their coins so they can buy food from the game store. That means if you don’t have enough coins, you will starve. The humans, however, now have all the remaining food reserves. It wasn’t much for the entire school but is more than enough if it was just for them. They now have an immense advantage and will most likely try to starve us out. Also, they can invest all their coins into weapons, which will make them a mighty force.”
It was just one move, one calculated decision that changed the entire board. Alvis couldn’t help but think back to the human race’s history. While every other race survived using their mana, humans solely survived using their brains.
This situation wasn’t different. Just like in history, this was a survival game.
“Now you’re up to date. We soon have our meeting with the class.”
Alvis remembered the meeting Kris had arranged earlier this morning.
“Let me eat something first before we go.”
He had enough coins to afford the standard food package, yet he still hesitated a bit before purchasing it.
From now on, I will always have to pay for it.
Alvis grimaced, thinking about how long everyone could afford it. Slowly but surely, they would run out of coins. And Alvis didn’t even want to imagine what would happen after that.